Incorporate educational goals into every stage of foster youths' development

Miryam J. Choca: Help foster kids make the grade
Choca, Miryam J. and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Sacramento Bee, Jan. 26, 2007.

Participants in a groundbreaking Education Summit spoke with one voice this week, calling upon California to make educating its 75,000 foster youth a statewide priority. A diverse group of present and former foster youth, educators, probation officers, judges, attorneys, social workers and child advocates is ready to go to work and asked policymakers to join them. The group made that clear at the summit when it presented a series of detailed policy recommendations Tuesday to a bipartisan panel of state legislators and members of the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care.

The list of recommendations addresses early childhood through postsecondary education, including an array of obstacles encountered daily by our state's foster youth. At the top is the importance of prioritizing education in every part of the youths' lives. Too often it is unclear who, if anyone, is responsible for ensuring the educational outcomes of children we take into our "charge" when we bring them into our child welfare system. Education goals and outcomes need to be integrated into the care of foster youth at every stage of the youths' development.

Participants also issued a call for better implementation of legislation already on California's books to promote school stability for these youth, give them access to the same academic resources and services as other children and prevent them from languishing in classrooms that fail to provide the type of education essential to their academic achievement.

Foster youth commonly live a "life in motion" marked by multiple homes and a parade of schools. For every change in school, children fall three to six months further behind their classmates. For foster youth, time out of school is exacerbated by barriers to enrollment, missing or delayed record transfers, unnoticed academic difficulties and the absence of a permanent connection with an adult committed to overseeing their educational development.

The struggle for school success continues for the thousands of California youth who age out of foster care. When they leave the system, fewer than half will have achieved a high school diploma and many will "graduate" instead to homelessness, unemployment and despair. Within two years after aging out, one in five former foster youth will end up in our jails. Behind these statistics lies a staggering loss of individual talent and community potential.

Summit participants called for a comprehensive approach to change these outcomes. They emphasized the need for: immediate attention for children to age 5, a key time in development; a range of supports for their school years; a statewide data system to track educational progress; early steps for college preparation; and statewide standardization and implementation of the model programs burgeoning across California on select college campuses.

Those programs provide scholarship and critical mentoring, housing and counseling supports to foster youth enrolled in college.

The first-ever statewide Education Summit, sponsored by the California Foster Youth Education Task Force, Casey Family Programs and the Child and Family Policy Institute of California, represents a growing commitment in the state to ensure that our most vulnerable youth make the grade. Only by working together and creating a commitment to education that is woven into the fabric of the state's foster care system, summit attendees emphasized, can we make it possible for these youth to attain a solid education and reach their potential dreams.

These officials' voices underscored the need for our entire community to strive to do better; we owe it to all our children to keep them on stable ground as they chart a path to a successful adult future.

24 months of individualized housing assistance for former foster youth

Funding helps foster kids beat the odds
Stanley, Christine. Sierra Sun, Jan. 26, 2007.

Each year, nearly 60 children reach adulthood and age-out of the foster care systems in Nevada and Placer counties without access to social resources. But that will change soon, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has increased the budget for older foster youth, allowing local counties to improve their systems of care.

Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year more than triples the state’s investment in the Transitional Housing Placement-Plus program (THP-Plus) from $4.8 million to $15.4 million, increasing the number of youth served annually from 200 to more than 1,000. Additionally, it provides an $11.9 augmentation for the current fiscal year.

“This is giving foster kids in California the chance they deserve. Without it, they would end up poor, unemployed or in jail. That’s a waste of money and most importantly, it’s an undue punishment to someone who never did anything wrong in the first place,” said John Burton, the retired President Pro Tem of the California State Senate, in a release. Burton established a foundation in 2004 that advocates foster care reform.

The Transitional Housing Placement-Plus Program is a program that provides affordable housing and supportive services to youth, age 18 to 24, to help them make a successful transition from foster care. It offers a wide-range of services, such as educational counseling, job search assistance, banking and budgeting education and case management.

But the program has not yet been developed in Placer and Nevada Counties because of cost. Last fiscal year, the reach of THP-Plus was limited, with only five counties implementing the program, according to Rachel Pena, program manager for Child Welfare Services in Nevada County.

A key barrier to statewide implementation was a 60 percent share of cost requirement for counties, which was removed in June 2006 with the passage of the state budget bill, Pena said. With the additional investment proposed in the governor’s budget, 48 counties will implement the program, assisting more that 1,000 homeless youth annually.

“What we envision is to provide emergency housing for emancipating foster youth who identify themselves as needing this service,” said Richard Knecht, interim director of Placer County’s Children’s System of Care.

“Housing and some social support would certainly be available in the [Truckee-Tahoe area] and we anticipate that there are kids there that need these services.”

Through the Transition Housing Placement-Plus program, which should be up and running in both Placer and Nevada counties this year, former foster youth will receive 24 months of individualized assistance.

“They may start out paying zero toward their rent, and by the end they should be able to maintain their situation without outside assistance,” said Cynthia Brundage, Placer County program manager and licensed clinical social worker.

“The program is focused on what they want. If they want to get a degree at Sierra College, for example, we would want to find a home for them near the campus.”

By design, any person who enters and completes the THP-Plus program will exit with a myriad of life skills, said Knecht.

“The natural supports that should be in place don’t exist for foster kids. THP-Plus helps them create those supports and to put some resources in place while they get the training they need,” Knecht said. “We are very confident that this program will assist kids to come out in a place of autonomy.”

Coffee house mentoring project and 14 apartments

Newly emancipated teens aided by foster care support
Galindo, Brynn. Jan. 23, 2007.

BAKERSFIELD - Where do I go from here? That is the question that is often left unanswered for foster children who turn 18 and find themselves with nowhere to go—no family, no home, and no support from the state.

That is why the state of California is looking to support these emancipated teens with much needed funding for the foster care system.

"All foster kids need families," said Rebecca Martin, a former foster child. "We need families to help us make decisions that distinguish between right and wrong."

Martin is not unlike most foster teens who on their 18th birthday are forced to find a life for themselves.

That is why last Tuesday in Sacramento, advocates for foster youth asked the state for $150 million to establish a mentoring program that would focus on helping youth find transitional housing and continue their educations.

"These are our kids. They belong to the community and we should do everything we can to help them make a successful transition," Assembly member Dave Jones (D-Sacramento).

Kern County has already established building blocks—14 apartments for foster kids transitioning from foster families to life on their own. These kids are required to be employed at least part time, some are working and going to school and they supplement the cost of housing in exchange for this opportunity.

"Can the state do more? Of course," said Bethany Christman from Child Protective Services, "but we, as a community, need to do everything we can do to make these kids productive citizens."

Christman with the Department of Human Services said places like building blocks provides an opportunity for housing and education in exchange for the state's welfare and prison costs associated with foster youths' transition is reduced.

The Kern County network for children is working on a coffee house project, where these kids can come to socialize and continue to get the mentoring and supportive services they need as young adults. No word on when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will make a decision on the $150 million proposal.

23 year old sister raises her younger brother, to spare him from being in foster care

Brave sister saves her youngest sibling from foster care
A teen fights for custody of her brother so that he does not share the same fate as the rest of their family
Staten Island Advance, Jan. 23, 2007.

Sometimes I come across another single parent whose life is far more interesting than mine . . .
At 18, Heather Hazen had everything to look forward to. She was a freshman at University of California, Santa Cruz, had a devoted boyfriend and pondered a career making documentaries. The future was bright, with endless possibilities. It was a far cry from the dark childhood she had left behind.

Heather's mother was an alcoholic and drug addict on welfare who abused and neglected her five children, all from different fathers. Heather was just 3 when she was first removed from her home. For the next 15 years, she bounced in and out of foster care and endured the heartbreak of three failed adoptions.

"It's very grueling," she says of the state's overstretched foster care system. The Los Angeles Times reports that of the 75,000-plus children under the state's foster care program, one-quarter will become homeless, one-quarter will go to prison and one-third will be on welfare within four years of exiting at 18. Three of Heather's siblings, who became "very violent people," are now in prison.

What saved Heather was the deep bond she shared with Justin, her youngest brother by eight years, who lived with their abusive mother. The neglect she observed was appalling. "I came up once when it was snowing," she recalls. "He didn't have a coat and his shoes were two sizes too small."

Just a child herself, she felt helpless to do anything.

One weekend, years later, everything changed. "I went from seeing the light in his eyes when he was turning 10 . . . to seeing the life disappear out of him three months later." She knew the abuse was killing him.

The final straw? Her mother put a lock on the refrigerator, preventing Justin from eating for 30 hours. Her baby brother was days away from being placed in foster care, the very system that had swallowed up her other siblings. It was unthinkable and Heather had to act quickly.
With only $2,000 -- an untold fortune to a college student -- Heather fought for legal guardianship. The courts would never award custody of a minor to an 18-year-old, social workers warned.

But in the end, Heather did win. This carefree college freshman, still a teen-ager, became a single mother . . . and her life changed forever. The real work was yet to come. Although 10, Justin was 3, emotionally. "He was very abused. I had to teach him how to be sociable, to trust, to love, to conquer his fears."

The four years they lived together in Santa Cruz were difficult. Golden collegiate moments like football games and fraternity parties were replaced by parent/teacher conferences and counseling. But all her sacrifices paid off. "There's almost no trace of where he came from," says Heather proudly. She believes that without her love and guidance, "he wouldn't be far from where my other siblings are."

Heather, now 23, and Justin, 15, moved to Orange County so "Little J" could attend high school with his cousins. Justin is growing into the well-adjusted young man his sister always knew he could be. He's developed a passion for Japanese culture and talks about a future in animation.

As a young woman, Heather has her own path to forge. "We still struggle with how do I be 23 and raise a 15-year-old." But that's unimportant, really. "My goal is that he grows up to be a happy, healthy young man." A smile spreads across her face. "He's my life. There is no me without him anymore."

Lynn Armitage's column appears on Tuesdays in the Relationships section of the Staten Island Advance. Lynn Armitage is a syndicated columnist who lives in Orange County, Calif.

Did she really need to be in foster care? There are abused kids out there who need real help

Still too young to be set free
Oakland Tribune, Jan. 15, 2007, pg. 1.

AT ONE POINT in everyone's life, we hear "everything happens for a reason." Well, I never truly believed in that saying until about 10 months ago, when I turned 16 and thought life was one big party.

I was doing what every 16-year-old girl should not be doing, but I was determined to make my own mistakes. I was tired of my mother saying,"You should learn from the mistakes that I have already made." Well, you adults should already know how hardheaded us teens are!

I ignored my mother's words and went from a 3.7 grade-point average, perfect attendance and teacher's pet to a 1.7 GPA and a teacher's nightmare. Well, that's what I was to six teachers who didn't even know who I was when I actually showed up to classes.

It's not that I did the whole grade-drop thing on purpose, but I figured out how to sneak out at night when my mom went to work at her night job in Oakland. I did go to a better area of town -- Alameda -- but that didn't change all the illegal things I was doing. I was drinking, experimenting with drugs, and to put the icing on the cake, was dating a 22-year-old man for about eight months.

Everyone knows that all people go through the years of so-called "experimenting," but my family didn't know that my time was coming so soon. Hell, neither did I.

I told everyone that I took full responsibility for all the wrong I had done and that I really wanted to change my ways, but my mother wasn't convinced. So she did the only thing she knew that would give me a scare, that would force me to totally change my ways. Child Protective Services.

She told me to pack my bags because she couldn't handle me anymore. The only thing on my mind was, "There's no way I'm going to foster care." So I put as many clothes in my backpack as I could -- as fast as I could -- and got on the first bus to my best friend's house. My friend totally understood.

After one week of being reported as a runaway, I told myself, "You can't run forever." I caved in and went to school the next day. Within 10 minutes of being on campus, I was picked up by the police. Straight to foster care I went for another week. I was told that my mother wanted nothing to do with me.

I knew what I was in for, so I did the thing I thought would get me out of that place: I hid my cell phone for a week and made secret calls to as many people as I could. Everyone I thought would be there for me didn't really care. My last resort was my aunt, who I didn't really want to call because of what I thought she'd think of me.

Two days after the call I didn't want to make, I was out of foster care and in a home I truly thought I would never have. My mom and dad love me, I know they do, but they are two people who believe drugs and alcohol are their first priority, not their children. Oddly enough, I thank them for that, because now I know I have a chance to be someone my family will be satisfied with.

My aunt is taking guardianship of me and is providing a home for me that doesn't consist of drugs and alcohol, but one that consists of love and rules. Rules -- not my favorite things, but they're something every teen needs to be able to become the person they've always dreamed of becoming.

I thank my aunt for giving me rules follow. Without those rules, who knows where I would have ended up? Thanks for putting my life and goals back on track. And thank you, Mom and Dad, for letting me spread my wings, but I found out I am not yet ready to spread them.

-Ashley Colomy is a junior at Castro Valley High School. Columns by area teens appear in this space on Mondays.

If they don't screen guardians better than foster parents, this might not fix the problem

Safety net is sought for aging foster youths
Proposed legislation would provide aid
Gardner, Michael. San Diego Union, Jan. 17, 2007, pg. B4.

SACRAMENTO -- It's a time when most teens celebrate adulthood, but some dread their 18th birthday.

"I felt scared. I didn't know what to do," Michelle Brunetta of San Diego said here yesterday.

Now 18, Brunetta was one of 4,200 youths in foster care who made the forced transition from state care to independence last year. - SOME YOUTH LOOK FORWARD TO AGING OUT DUE TO THE ABUSE THEY HAVE RECEIVED FROM ADULTS IN THEIR LIVES

The transition is often painful -- financially and emotionally. The state abandons most responsibility, leaving many foster children on their own without affordable housing and few job prospects, foster care advocates say.

"Time after time, the state turns her children out in the street at age 18 with no place to live, no means of supporting themselves, no safety net and no hope," said Melanie Delgado, an attorney for the Children's Advocacy Institute of the University of San Diego School of Law.

The Children's Advocacy Institute yesterday announced it had joined with two Democrats to propose legislation to provide a safety net for those leaving foster care and struggling without traditional family support to pay bills, get a job and find an apartment.

"These kids are our kids," said Assemblyman Dave Jones, D- Sacramento, referring to the state's responsibility.

Jones plans to co-author a bill with Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.

The proposed legislation would provide grants of up to $850 a month to help foster youths find stable housing, schooling and jobs. The grant would be slowly reduced, until disappearing after five years. A guardian with personal ties to a foster youth would be awarded $100 a month to handle the money and act as a mentor.

The program would cost about $123 million annually, once it has been in place for five years. However, the state's investment would pay off in lower welfare and health care costs, as well as provide additional tax revenues as the young people find secure, higher- paying jobs, supporters of the measure say.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers enacted some changes last year, boosting the foster care budget and adding nearly $12 million to help with housing subsidies. Foster youths also are eligible for some selected college scholarships, health care and welfare, administration officials say.

"This administration is committed to providing resources to strengthen the foster care system," said Shirley Washington, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services. However, the governor's proposed 2007-08 budget contains no increases.

Foster care statistics are grim. In California, 65 percent do not have a place to live after turning 18. Fewer than 3 percent will graduate from college and they are four times more likely to be on welfare. Former foster youths have high rates of homelessness and pregnancies, Delgado said.

In San Diego County, there are between 3,000 and 4,000 youths in foster care. About 250 leave the system at the age of 18 every year. Of the homeless youth population, one in three were once in foster care, San Diego advocates say. Statewide, there are about 75,000 youngsters in foster care.

Sophia Herman of San Diego, who attends Grossmont Community College, said the proposal would help struggling foster youths by providing permanency and role models to fill in for the family they do not have.

"I beg you ... give us this chance," she said.

Female foster care alumna four times as likely to receive public assistance

Aid urged for older foster kids
Abandonment at age 18 causes huge problems
Knight, Heather. San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 17, 2007, pg. B1.

The state of California neglects foster care children once they turn 18, turning them out onto the street with nowhere to live, no way to support themselves and nobody to turn to for support, according to a new report by the Children's Advocacy Institute.

The institute, run out of the University of San Diego School of Law, on Tuesday called upon the state Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support new legislation providing substantial financial support for foster youth once they "age out" of the system at 18 and ensure they have an adult guardian to provide guidance.

"These are not other people's children. These are legally our children," said Robert Fellmeth, director of the institute. "How you treat them is a measure of your devotion to family values."

Youth nationwide who live with their parents typically don't become self-sufficient until age 26 -- and their parents on average contribute $44,000 after they turn 18 in rent, utilities, food, medical care, college tuition, transportation and other necessities to help them get there, according to the report.

For foster youth, it's an entirely different story. Every year, 4,000 of them age out of California's foster care system. Many get Medi-Cal health coverage. Some get help with rent and college tuition. But, according to the authors of the report, state assistance comes piecemeal and adds up to 12 percent of the average $44,000 other youth get from their parents after turning 18.

The consequences are dire, the report authors said. Sixty-five percent leave foster care with nowhere to live, and 51 percent are unemployed. Far more will wind up in prison than in college -- 20 percent to 3 percent by comparison. Girls who age out of the system are four times more likely than the general population to receive public assistance.

Forty percent of people living in California's homeless shelters are former foster children.

This bleak picture isn't anything new, and numerous governmental and university studies have shown similar statistics, according to Denis Udall, a senior program officer at the Walter S. Johnson Foundation who specializes in foster care.

"It's really commonly accepted throughout the country that this is an extremely at-risk, vulnerable population," he said.

The Children's Advocacy Institute on Tuesday proposed remedying the situation with "The Transition Guardian Plan," which the report authors said is the first of its kind in the nation. State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Dave Jones, D- Sacramento, have pledged to sponsor the proposal in the coming weeks in hopes of securing the money in the 2007-08 budget.

Under the proposal, a court-appointed guardian would be appointed for every foster youth sometime between their 16th and 18th birthdays. This person could be the foster parent, another relative, an attorney, a social worker or somebody else the teenager has come to know well.

The guardian would be paid $100 monthly by the state to oversee the youth once they turn 18. The state would send a stipend for the youth to the guardian, who would be in charge of distributing funds and guiding the youth in how to manage the money. The stipend would vary according to need, but would typically range from $850 monthly right after the youth turns 18 to $258 monthly during the fifth year of participation.

The total allotted to the typical youth would be $47,000 over five years, after which the goal would be for the youth to be self- sufficient.

The total annual cost to the state for the new program would be $123 million after five years.

Proponents said that for every dollar the state spends on the program, $2 would be saved in the long run in prison costs, public assistance costs and the higher income taxes that self-sufficient former foster youth would eventually contribute.

Foster care has become a major issue in Sacramento, in part due to a series of Chronicle editorials highlighting problems within the state system. Schwarzenegger signed a raft of bills last year aimed at improving the lot of foster youth, including protecting them from identify theft, making it easier to find their biological siblings and providing more funds for rental assistance.

But according to Fellmeth, these measures have been "very small, tiny baby steps" that haven't tackled core problems. "I don't care if you're on crutches or not -- you've got to walk the walk," he said, taking a jab at the hobbled governor who recently broke a leg while skiing.

Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said Tuesday that the governor has taken significant steps to improve the foster care system. She said she didn't know enough about the new plan to say whether he would sign it into law if it passes the Legislature.

"He's been working consistently since taking office to protect the children entrusted to the state's care," she said. "It's something he has worked on and something he continues to work on."

Fellmeth and the other report authors were joined in Sacramento Tuesday by four former foster youth.

One of them, Nancy O'Reilly, 26, lived a chaotic life with her sisters and mother until her mother abandoned them when Nancy was 13. When she hit the end of her senior year of high school, her friends reveled in their senior trips and graduation while she was privately "scared to death" of being out on her own.

"I was completely in survival mode," she said, noting she worked part-time and went to college, but eventually dropped out. But her story has a happy ending. She was adopted at age 24 by a former social worker and is now attending Cal State Stanislaus.

Her sisters weren't so fortunate. O'Reilly said they have resorted to working as strippers and have been arrested, homeless, on drugs, on welfare and in abusive relationships.

"Some people say it's the choices they made, but when you have no choices, you do what you have to do in order to survive," she said. "Today, I want to beg the state to stop abandoning my foster brothers and sisters."

A challenge to invest in higher education without family support

Aid a must for former foster kids, study says
Schultz, E. J. Fresno Bee, Jan. 17, 2007, pg. A1.

California is a horrible parent, kicking most of its foster kids to the curb as soon as they turn 18 -- with no job, home or path to college, according to a new report.

More than 4,000 foster children leave the system, or "emancipate," each year, including about 180 in Fresno County and 90 in Tulare County. But 65% leave with no place to live, less than 3% go to college and 51% are jobless, according to the study released Tuesday by the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law. The report was funded by The California Wellness Foundation, a grantmaking organization devoted to promoting health in the state.

Much-ballyhooed legislative fixes have failed, says the group, which is calling for a $123 million-a-year state investment to give foster children the same chance as other kids.

"They are your children, public officials," said Robert Fellmeth, director of the institute. "They are in your charge. How you treat them is the proper measure of your devotion to family values."

The stakes are high in the central San Joaquin Valley, home to nearly 5,000 of the roughly 75,000 children now in foster care in the state.

"It is our obligation to continue to provide transitional services," said Catherine Huerta, interim director of Fresno County's Department of Children and Family Services. "But there's never enough money to do that."

Most foster children are released from state jurisdiction at age 18. Transitional services -- like housing and job counseling -- are available through county-run programs supported by the state.

Tulare and Fresno counties, for instance, plan to apply this year for money from a state program that gives housing assistance to former foster youths ages 18-24.

But more help is needed, according to the study.

On average, the state spends less than $2,225 on foster kids after they turn 18. By comparison, California parents spent a median $44,500 on such things as tuition, cash and housing to help their adult children reach independence, according to the study.

The Children's Advocacy Institute plan -- expected to be introduced this year in the Legislature -- would close the gap by giving monthly stipends to former foster kids ranging from $258 to $850 a month. The money would be distributed by a court-appointed guardian, and the payments would last five years, for a total of $34,968.

The cost to the state, including administrative expenses, would reach about $123 million annually within five years, according to the report. But the state would recoup its investment because former foster kids would stay off welfare and out of prison, advocates say.

"We're not investing in these children, and we're losing money in the bargain," Fellmeth said.

Last year, the Legislature attacked the foster care problem with a flurry of bills. But some of the most significant legislation stalled, according to the study, including measures to increase education assistance and give hiring preferences to foster children.

The bills that did pass, including requiring background checks on mentors and easing rules to allow for emergency foster care placements, were "very small, tiny baby steps" Fellmeth said.

Overall, he said, the effort has "basically been a fraud -- it's basically not happening."

Assembly Member Bill Maze, R-Visalia, co-chairman of last year's Assembly Select Committee on Foster Care, disagrees.

"This is a gigantic problem, and we've stated that from the get- go," he said. "As we all know, you don't get absolutely the grand outcome that everybody wants in any one year."

Maze, who expects to take a leadership role this year on a proposed joint Senate-Assembly foster care committee, said lawmakers are committed to reconsidering the bills that failed last year. And he said legislators would consider the plan released Tuesday, but "you can't just focus all that energy solely on emancipated youth."

Other problems need fixing, he said, like making sure that foster kids still in the system are getting the proper medical and mental health care.

"You have to prioritize things," he said. "Very clearly we know, as a system, as a whole, we've got major problems."

Meanwhile, foster kids continue to churn through.

Dinuba-area native Jennifer Rowan was in the state's foster care system off and on from the age of 7 to 18. When emancipated, she went to live with her mom. But when her mom was evicted, the two were forced to move to a Fresno women's shelter.

But she beat the odds, graduating from high school while living in the shelter.

Rowan, 20, who was profiled in The Bee in June 2005, now attends classes at Fresno City College and works for Fresno County, counseling foster kids.

"When they get out," she said, "a lot of them, they don't have family. It's hard to go to school and concentrate on doing something with your life when really your life is not together."

Foster children in the ValleyThere are about 75,000 foster children in California. Here's how many are living in the Central San Joaquin Valley as of July 2006:

Fresno County: 2,427

Tulare County: 1,118

Merced County: 660

Kings County: 350

Madera County: 334

Source: State Department of Social Services

Foster youth often leave care without a single adult to turn to...

Aid sought for ex-foster youths
Gurton, Mary Frances. San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Jan. 18, 2007.

Some 4,000 youths leaving California's foster care system each year without financial assistance could benefit from extended support for an additional three years.

A non-binding resolution, sponsored by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, asks the legislature to take up a bill that would extend services to emancipated foster youths up to 21 years old.

No one has yet authored such a bill, however.

It's an effort to stem the tide of foster youths falling into patterns of unemployment, incarceration, homelessness and other problems, officials said.

"Just as youth who leave their families as young adults depend upon the continued support of their birth parents to meet their individualized needs," said Antonovich, "so do youth emancipating from foster care depend on the state and county systems."

Currently, ties to foster care are severed when minors in the system become legal adults at age 18. They must often fend for themselves when applying for further assistance such as independent living programs and vocational and life skills training, said Rhelda Shabazz, chief of the Department of Children and Family Services' youth emancipation division.

"This would give them the option to stay in care," said Shabazz of the potential legislation, "giving them a better opportunity to get a nice start on their own. It is awesome that the county sees the need and is backing us."

Society pays for such youths eventually, but often it is by way of incarceration and other social problems rather than investing in support, said Miriam Krinsky, special director of policy and reform at the Children's Law Center in Monterey Park.

"They often leave care without a single adult to turn to and basic skills to make it on their own," she said, adding that many want nothing to do with the system after they age out. "We need to find a way to give them support without court or child welfare oversight."

More than a third of foster youths earn neither a high school diploma nor a GED, according to Krinsky, leaving them at an almost hopeless disadvantage when seeking employment.

About one-fourth are incarcerated within the first two years after they leave the system, and about one-fifth will become homeless at some time after they become adults, she said.

Bill Martone, CEO of Hathaway Sycamores youth facility in Pasadena, agreed.

"Historically, transition at 18 has been extremely challenging and difficult," he said, "Having assistance extended until 21 would enable youths the additional support to be much more successful."

180 Fresno foster children leave the system every year - and they are unprepared for the adult world

Editorial: Give them a fighting chance
State must do better at preparing foster children for life as adults
Fresno Bee, Jan. 19, 2007, pg. B8.

When it comes to prioritizing the children at highest risk for later problems, foster children should be near the top of the list.

About 180 Fresno County foster children leave the system every year and most are headed for a tumble into ice-cold water. About 65% leave with no place to live, less than 3% go to college and 51% are jobless, according to a study released this week by the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law. The report was funded by The California Wellness Foundation, an organization devoted to promoting health in the state.

What are the chances of these children doing well? It's like pitching them without a life jacket into Upper Kings River and saying, "Sink or swim to shore, baby."

Exceptional foster kids grow up nurtured and resilient, helped along by excellent foster parents and their own good sense. Many, however, find themselves at a huge disadvantage competing with children whose families are loving, wise, helpful with college tuition, job counseling and supported by a wide network of family and friends.

The state can never replicate all of that, but it can give them a fighting chance by helping out with finances and professional counseling during those important transitional years of 18-24.

If we fail, we can expect to spend many times their college tuition in prison expenses and the suffering they will cause others if they are lured by gang members and crime bosses for security, advice and support.

It's disturbing that the hail of foster care legislation that swirled up last year in the Legislature has resulted in so little courageous action. Robert Fellmeth, director of the Children's Advocacy Institute, goes so far as to call it "a fraud."

Some of the most important legislation stalled, including measures to increase education assistance and give hiring preferences to foster children.

We encourage Assembly Member Bill Maze, R-Visalia, co-chairman of last year's Assembly Select Committee on Foster Care, to renew his fight for these deserving young people. Maze expects to take a leadership role this year on a proposed joint Senate-Assembly foster care committee and said lawmakers are committed to reconsidering the bills that failed last year.

We'll see.

Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

Higher education rate for foster care alumni is cause for concern

Groundbreaking summit to address foster youth education needs
Recommendations for lawmakers to be presented at the State Capitol
PR Newswire. New York:Jan 23, 2007.

SACRAMENTO -- 300 child welfareprofessionals, community leaders and youth will gather at 9:30 AM Tuesday, Jan. 23 in the Radisson Hotel, Sacramento, for the first-ever California statewide summit to forge solutions to the daily challenges and obstacles foster youth face in attaining an education. Solutions and recommendations from summit participants will be presented to lawmakers at the State Capitol from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in room 4202.

"The education challenges faced by the average youth today are multiplied ten-fold for our youth in foster care," said Miryam Choca, Director of California Strategies for Casey Family Programs. "Ensuring a sound education is key to upholding our collective responsibility to each of the 75,000 currently being 'parented' by the state and the thousands who have emancipated from foster care, to give them a fair chance in realizing their talent and potential in life."

Foster youth often face daunting odds in attaining an education. Many children who have suffered from abuse and neglect are already at a disadvantage educationally, and foster care has often been show to have a tremendous negative impact on their education outcomes. Foster children often experience multiple changes in placements and in school attendance. For every change in school, children fall three to six months further behind their classmates. Additionally, academic difficulties go unnoticed and are compounded by each displacement, enrollment can be delayed, school records may be lost, special education can be overlooked, and most of all, children suffer from the lack of a permanent adult anchor in their lives.

"For the 75,000 children in California who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and placed in the foster care system, educational progress is a crucial factor in ensuring that each one of them reaches his or her full potential," observed Miriam Krinsky, Special Director of Policy and Reform Initiatives for the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles. "Stable and positive school experiences can enhance children's well being and increase their chances for a successful transition to adulthood and their ability to contribute to society."

Although national and state data are limited, research shows that there are serious issues that must be addressed for foster youth to achieve educational success. A recent study conducted in connection with legislation to mandate the Foster Youth Service Program showed that a staggering 75% of foster students in California function below their grade level, 83 % are being held back by grade three and 46% become high school drop outs, compared with 16% of non-foster youth. Fewer than 10% of foster youth enroll in college and of those that do, less than 2% graduate.

California has made solid strides in recent years in acknowledging the educational needs of foster youth. The passage of AB 490 in 2003, the recent expansion of the Foster Youth Services Program administered by the California Department of Education and the increasing support for model programs such as Guardian Scholars, a comprehensive scholarship and life support program at higher education institutions, are just a few examples of growing understanding and attention to the critical needs of our foster youth.

"Recent gains in helping foster youth achieve a sound education are important," said Stuart Oppenheim, Executive Director of the Child & Family Policy Institute of California, "but they are far from enough. Today, we hope to build upon these efforts by working together in new ways to help our youth succeed. The coming together of leaders and professionals from child welfare, education probation and the courts for the first time is a critical first step in achieving local implementation of policy goals through joint action planning, resource sharing and support."

Programs that have proven to be successful in supporting foster youth education such as the Foster Youth Services Program, Tutor Connection, a program linking teachers in training with foster youth as tutors in San Diego and Guardian Scholars will be highlighted as part of work group sessions to forge state and local policy and practice recommendations. Participants will explore statewide implementation of successful programs so that every foster youth in California has equal access to opportunities and supports.

The California Foster Youth Education Task Force is a coalition of 21 organizations chaired by Casey Family Programs and the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles dedicated to improving educational outcomes for foster youth.

Casey Family Programs is the largest national foundation whose sole mission is to provide and improve -- and ultimately prevent the need for -- foster care. www.casey.org

The Child & Family Policy Institute of California is a private non-profit organization working to advance the development of sound public policy and program excellence in county Human Service Agencies. www.cfpic.org

State (and nation) should prioritize the welfare of foster care youth in its yearly self-assessment

Open forum on foster care:
Resolutions for our collective children
Child, Curt. San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2007, pg. E7.

The beginning of a new year marks not simply the passage of time, but also an opportunity for reflection. It is a time to take stock of the past year's accomplishments as well as unfinished business, and to plan for the year to come. The end of 2006 enables us to close the door on our failings and affords us a fresh start.

As parents, the new year also compels us to reflect on how we've attended to the needs of our children -- to assess how our children are faring and where we can and should be endeavoring to provide better guidance or support. Our resolutions inevitably include a promise to do better, try harder and devote more time to our children in the coming year.

Too often, however, the abused and neglected foster children we collectively "parent" in our state play no part of our yearly self-assessment and have no place in our list of new year's resolutions. We fail to ask how these children have fared in the year past or what they most need in the year ahead.

As we take stock at the close of 2006 on behalf of the more than 75,000 children and youth in California's foster-care system, there are many positive advancements for which we should rightfully take pride, and much more that we must accomplish in the year to come. This past year brought significant legislation and new resources to address many of the challenges facing struggling children and families in our state.

One of the most critical bills enacted into law, AB2216 (Bass) creates a Child Welfare Council to improve collaboration among all the state agencies that serve foster children. This leadership body will provide a unique opportunity to bring together the many agencies, departments, courts and stakeholders that impact the lives of children and thereby avoid the piecemeal parenting that too often is the norm. The council will enable California to be a national leader on institutionalizing a collaborative leadership structure.

As this new climate for collaborative leadership is forged, however, it is critical that the many arms of the courts and government that will be a part of the newly formed council are an engaged part of turning this ambitious law into reality for our state's most vulnerable children. A deliberate and planned process will provide the greatest chance for long-term efficacy and success of the council.

Nothing worthwhile happens for free, however. This past year saw an additional $83 million to address some of the critical needs facing our foster-care system. This additional money will be used for reduced social worker caseloads, support for relative caregivers, transitional programs, dependency drug courts and systemic improvements - all long overdue initiatives. Many existing challenges, especially those facing youth aging out of foster care, remain and will require further investment.

Leadership for all of these positive steps sprang from several fronts. The bipartisan California Legislative Select Committee on Children in Foster Care, chaired by Assembly member Karen Bass, D- Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County) provided a forum to discuss, review and debate public policy on the child welfare system. Assembly member Bass and the committee underscored that these are all our children; they can and must be part of our daily, monthly and yearly planning.

Our courts have also put a spotlight on the need for reform of our foster-care system. With the support and leadership of California's Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Administrative Director of the Courts William C. Vickrey and the Center for Families, Children & the Court -- led by Diane Nunn -- this past year saw the creation of a new Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. The commission, chaired by Justice Carlos Moreno, is hard at work and will start to issue recommendations this coming year on improving the ability of courts to move children quickly out of the legal limbo of foster care into safe, permanent homes.

If real change is to take place, however, we need to take a national look at these issues. Flexibility in allocating federal funds where they can do the most good needs to be incorporated into federal funding mechanisms instead of relying on the perverse requirement that compels removing children from the home and breaking up struggling families before federal monies can be tapped.

Last year was a year of significant accomplishment on behalf of California's foster youth. Things are unquestionably moving a better direction. But better is far from good enough. Let's all resolve to do our best to ensure that our most vulnerable children will have in the coming year what all children deserve -- a safe, stable and loving home.

Curt Child is a senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law; Miriam Aroni Krinsky is in charge of policy and reform work at the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles.

Audit reveals lack of progress; counties refuse to meet requirements

Open forum on foster care:
State agencies ignore the law -- and the public
Leno, Mark. San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2007, pg. E7.

The California Public Records Act has been the law in this state since 1968 and was upgraded by voters to a constitutional right by the passage of Proposition 59 in 2004. In January 2006, Cal-Aware, a nonprofit public access advocacy group, conducted an audit of state agency compliance with rudimentary requirements of our landmark act. That audit revealed that most state agencies are not complying with the substance or spirit of the law. The average grade for these state agencies was a dismal 37 percent -- a failing grade by any standard.

In response, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promptly issued an executive order requiring the prominent posting of the public records act guidelines (a requirement which has been state law since 1968) at all state agencies and the designation and training of staff to handle these requests. Unfortunately, a subsequent audit by Cal Aware this last August revealed little change in the performance of most state agencies with troubling misinformation about agency obligations under the act displayed employees, even after receiving further training.

To address the failed results of the January 2006 audit, I authored legislation last year in an attempt to bring our state agencies into better compliance with the act. One component of AB2927 would have required state agencies with Web sites to prominently include on their homepages a "Public Record Center" with a link of whom to contact, how to request public records and an HTML form on which to make a specific public records act request online.

Additionally, the bill would have required the state Department of Justice to convene a task force of state agency representatives, public right-to-know consumer advocates and privacy rights advocates to make recommendations for a statutory standard governing the posting of public record act requests and denials and/or public documents that are subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act on the Internet Web sites of state agencies. The state Justice Department would then report its findings to the Legislature.

AB2927 enjoyed uncommon unanimous bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature.

Unfortunately, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill. His veto message made reference to his executive order suggesting that the situation had already been successfully addressed.

As CalAware's latest audit reveals, if the governor truly believes that his executive order resolved his administration's failure to comply with the public records act, we all should be very troubled and concerned. For there to be transparency and accountability in the operations of our state government, we need action, not just reassuring words from our governor.

Why should we be troubled and concerned? There are dozens of answers to that question, one of which was recently highlighted in a Chronicle editorial last month. In that piece, it was noted that California does not know how many foster children die each year, despite a 2004 state law that mandates counties to reveal pertinent and basic information regarding the death of these children.

Christina Riehl of the Children's Advocacy Institute was quoted as saying "There's no way to get information without going to the courts." If we have in statute and in our California Public Records Act the requirement that counties release the names, dates of births and dates of deaths of foster children who die in our system, and we still have to go to court to access this public information, then we are facing a number of problems.

Interestingly, in response to this editorial, state Department of Social Services' interim director Cliff Allenby wrote, "The state Department of Social Services is dedicated to transparency and the public accountability that comes with full disclosure." But a review of CalAware's January audit of this department reveals that it scored only a 10 of 100 points, an F-. Even after the governor's executive order, this department scored 75 points, a B-, in CalAware's August audit. Keep in mind that these audits only tested for the most basic compliance of our public records act, such as whether the agency posted its guidelines of how to access public records. If interim director Allenby is sincere in his dedication to "transparency and public accountability," he has a long way to go.

To track the well-being of foster children in our care, or the myriad other operations of a government as large and complex as ours, we need a public records act with some teeth. AB2927 would have served that purpose. Until we take that step, all the new laws legislators may craft to address serious problems with our state's operations will prove to be meaningless

Promise Scholars program helps foster youth attend college

Promise Scholars helps ex-foster youths secure college degree
Koehn, Holly. Turlock Journal, Jan. 20, 2007.

Jessica Tacdol grew up in a different world.

A world of abusive foster parents and a cycle of revolving families, none of which she could call her own.

The first 17 years of Tacdol's life were spent in the foster care system of the Central Valley. At age 17 Tacdol ran away, destined for freedom and independence, with her sights set on a college education.

For Tacdol, and many other foster youth in the community, the idea of gaining a higher education has not always been an easy or attainable destiny.

Tacdol, now 20, along with nine other students, was able to achieve the college dream through Promise Scholars, a program of California State University, Stanislaus that helps former foster care youths attain a college education.

Wanda Bonnell, coordinator of Promise Scholars, believes in the mission of this program, which came to fruition in the fall 2006 semester.

“Education changes everything, no matter what background you have or what difficulties you've gone through,” said Bonnell. “If you're given the chance to go to college it opens up opportunities you never would have had otherwise.”

According to Bonnell, there are about 100 youth in Stanislaus County who become emancipated at age 18. Out of these individuals, only about two to five percent make it to college.

Promise Scholars is hoping to increase that percentage by providing resources to overcome some of the barriers that have prevented students from obtaining higher education.

“A staggering number of foster youth fall through the cracks after they turn 18,” said Bonnell. “They have tremendous obstacles that I feel are now starting to be addressed in our educational system.”

Through Promise Scholars, students that grew up in the foster care system are able to receive financial aid and are provided with residency in the CSU Stanislaus dorms year-round, including winter and summer breaks.

“We really have to step up and let these students know that we're going to give them a place to live and provide them with educational support,” said Bonnell.

In addition to funding and a secure place to live, the Promise Scholars Program also offers students mentor services, job searching skills, medical attention through the campus Health Center and other life skills for the future.

“We also teach them how to take the next step after college,” said Bonnell. “We give them the tools they need to move on and be successful in life.”

Out of the 10 students that were admitted last semester through the program, there has been an 80 percent retention rate.

Bonnell hopes to encourage these students to persevere through the struggles of college.

“There's a lot of discipline that comes with learning to be independent,” said Bonnell. “They're still young, still trying to find their way. We want to provide an environment where they can flourish.”

Coming from a background lacking in stability, these former foster care students need all of the support they can get while struggling to make it on their own in a collegiate environment.

“This is my passion,” said Bonnell. “I make sure that whenever a student comes into my office, I make time for them.”

Tacdol, who is now a Liberal Studies major and was the first student to become involved with the Promise Scholars program, agrees that support and guidance is most beneficial when facing challenges.

“The most important thing to me was the network connection that it provides,” said Tacdol. “Anytime I need help with anything I can count on Wanda.”

Bonnell, who hopes to admit 10 new foster care youths each semester, is excited to see the growth in the Promise Scholars Program.

In the past, there had never been a means of identifying a foster care student on CSU applications. However, an additional question regarding wards of state has been added to the application.

“The problem previously was that we really couldn't identify who these foster care students were,” said Bonnell. “This new form should help us collect data so that we can better serve this population.”

Bonnell wants to start working on identifying these students as early as middle school.

“Planting the seeds for college early on gives them a better chance at having an independent, successful life if in fact they get an education,” said Bonnell.

Bonnell is hopeful that the Promise Scholars program will grow and continue to change the lives of foster care youth in the community.

“It only takes one person to make a difference,” said Bonnell. “I'm all about the underdog and it's been so rewarding.”

Please help the 4,000 California foster youth emancipating each year

State asked to assist those leaving foster care system
Frances, Mary. Whittier Daily News, Jan. 19, 2007.

Some 4,000 youths leaving California's foster care system each year without financial assistance could benefit from extended support for an additional three years.

A non-binding resolution, sponsored by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, asks the legislature to take up a bill that would extend services to emancipated foster youths up to 21 years old.

No one has yet authored such a bill, however.

It's an effort to stem the tide of foster youths falling into patterns of unemployment, incarceration, homelessness and other problems, officials said.

"Just as youth who leave their families as young adults depend upon the continued support of their birth parents to meet their individualized needs," said Antonovich, "so do youth emancipating from foster care depend on the state and county systems."

Currently, ties to foster care are severed when minors in the system become legal adults at age 18. They must often fend for themselves when applying for further assistance such as independent living programs and vocational and life skills training, said Rhelda Shabazz, chief of the Department of Children and Family Services' youth emancipation division.

"This would give them the option to stay in care," said Shabazz of the potential legislation, "giving them a better opportunity to get a nice start on their own. It is awesome that the county sees the need and is backing us."

Society pays for such youths eventually, but often it is by way of incarceration and other social problems rather than investing in support, said Miriam Krinsky, special director of policy and reform at the Children's Law Center in Monterey Park.

"They often leave care without a single adult to turn to and basic skills to make it on their own," she said, adding that many want nothing to do with the system after they age out. "We need to find a way to give them support without court or child welfare oversight."

More than a third of foster youths earn neither a high school diploma nor a GED, according to Krinsky, leaving them at an almost hopeless disadvantage when seeking employment.

About a quarter are incarcerated within the first two years after they leave the system, and about a fifth will become homeless at some time after they become adults, she said.

Bill Martone, CEO of Hathaway Sycamores youth facility in Pasadena, agreed.

"Historically, transition at 18 has been extremely challenging and difficult," he said, "Having assistance extended until 21 would enable youths the additional support to be much more successful."

65% homeless, 51% jobless and only 3% attend college

Editorial: Help older foster kids
Contra Costal Times, Jan. 19, 2006.

YOUNG ADULTS WHO live with their parents don't typically sever the financial umbilical cord until they are 26. Parents help out with college expenses, rent, food and medical care, to the tune of about $44,000 per year.

But it is a totally different story for foster kids. When they turn 18, the state of California kicks them out on the street to fend for themselves.

The devastating effects of this policy have been well-documented. Of the 4,000 kids who "age out" of foster care every year, 20 percent land in prison. With no one to turn to for financial support, former foster children wind up in homeless shelters and on public assistance.

A new report by the Children's Advocacy Institute, run out of the University of San Diego Law School, provides us with more grim statistics. Among them, 65 percent of children leave foster care with no place to live, 51 percent are unemployed and just 3 percent attend college, while seven times that number end up serving time.

Yet the study does more than lament this sorry state of affairs. Its authors make concrete suggestions for improving the lot of foster care children.

The authors are calling for a new plan, the first of its kind in the nation, to establish guardians and financial support for foster children after they turn 18.

The way it would work is, every child 16 to 18 would be matched with a court-appointed guardian.

That person, a relative, foster parent, social worker or someone else the teenager knows well, would be in charge of monitoring his or her progress. The guardian, who would be paid $100 a month, would also manage a stipend that the state would provide to each child. That amount would range from $850 per month right after the child's 18th birthday to $258 when they are 23.

Advocates say the cost of the program, which would provide a $47,000 subsidy to each child, is $123 million.

That is peanuts compared with the amount the state spends in prison costs and government assistance on former foster children.

The Transition Guardian plan is an excellent idea that makes sense. Not only will it help foster children become productive citizens. It will also save taxpayer dollars in the long run.

State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, have pledged to sponsor the legislation in the hopes of getting money in the 2007-2008 budget.
We urge the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger to give this important piece of legislation their support.

Adult support and financial assistance for youth aging out of foster care is proposed

California Aid urged for older foster kids
Abandonment at age 18 causes huge problems, group says
Knight, Healther. SanFrancisco Chronicle. Jan. 17, 2007.

Sacramento -- The state of California neglects foster care children once they turn 18, turning them out onto the street with nowhere to live, no way to support themselves and nobody to turn to for support, according to a new report by the Children's Advocacy Institute.

The institute, run out of the University of San Diego School of Law, on Tuesday called upon the state Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support new legislation providing substantial financial support for foster youth once they "age out" of the system at 18 and ensure they have an adult guardian to provide guidance.

"These are not other people's children. These are legally our children," said Robert Fellmeth, director of the institute. "How you treat them is a measure of your devotion to family values."

Youth nationwide who live with their parents typically don't become self-sufficient until age 26 -- and their parents on average contribute $44,000 after they turn 18 in rent, utilities, food, medical care, college tuition, transportation and other necessities to help them get there, according to the report.

For foster youth, it's an entirely different story. Every year, 4,000 of them age out of California's foster care system. Many get Medi-Cal health coverage. Some get help with rent and college tuition. But, according to the authors of the report, state assistance comes piecemeal and adds up to 12 percent of the average $44,000 other youth get from their parents after turning 18.

The consequences are dire, the report authors said. Sixty-five percent leave foster care with nowhere to live, and 51 percent are unemployed. Far more will wind up in prison than in college -- 20 percent to 3 percent by comparison. Girls who age out of the system are four times more likely than the general population to receive public assistance.

Forty percent of people living in California's homeless shelters are former foster children.
This bleak picture isn't anything new, and numerous governmental and university studies have shown similar statistics, according to Denis Udall, a senior program officer at the Walter S. Johnson Foundation who specializes in foster care.

"It's really commonly accepted throughout the country that this is an extremely at-risk, vulnerable population," he said.

The Children's Advocacy Institute on Tuesday proposed remedying the situation with "The Transition Guardian Plan," which the report authors said is the first of its kind in the nation. State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, have pledged to sponsor the proposal in the coming weeks in hopes of securing the money in the 2007-08 budget.

Under the proposal, a court-appointed guardian would be appointed for every foster youth sometime between their 16th and 18th birthdays. This person could be the foster parent, another relative, an attorney, a social worker or somebody else the teenager has come to know well.

The guardian would be paid $100 monthly by the state to oversee the youth once they turn 18. The state would send a stipend for the youth to the guardian, who would be in charge of distributing funds and guiding the youth in how to manage the money. The stipend would vary according to need, but would typically range from $850 monthly right after the youth turns 18 to $258 monthly during the fifth year of participation. - HMM, I SEE ROOM FOR ABUSE

The total allotted to the typical youth would be $47,000 over five years, after which the goal would be for the youth to be self-sufficient.

The total annual cost to the state for the new program would be $123 million after five years.
Proponents said that for every dollar the state spends on the program, $2 would be saved in the long run in prison costs, public assistance costs and the higher income taxes that self-sufficient former foster youth would eventually contribute.

Foster care has become a major issue in Sacramento, in part due to a series of Chronicle editorials highlighting problems within the state system. Schwarzenegger signed a raft of bills last year aimed at improving the lot of foster youth, including protecting them from identify theft, making it easier to find their biological siblings and providing more funds for rental assistance.

But according to Fellmeth, these measures have been "very small, tiny baby steps" that haven't tackled core problems. "I don't care if you're on crutches or not -- you've got to walk the walk," he said, taking a jab at the hobbled governor who recently broke a leg while skiing.

Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said Tuesday that the governor has taken significant steps to improve the foster care system. She said she didn't know enough about the new plan to say whether he would sign it into law if it passes the Legislature.

"He's been working consistently since taking office to protect the children entrusted to the state's care," she said. "It's something he has worked on and something he continues to work on."

Fellmeth and the other report authors were joined in Sacramento Tuesday by four former foster youth.

One of them, Nancy O'Reilly, 26, lived a chaotic life with her sisters and mother until her mother abandoned them when Nancy was 13. When she hit the end of her senior year of high school, her friends reveled in their senior trips and graduation while she was privately "scared to death" of being out on her own.

"I was completely in survival mode," she said, noting she worked part-time and went to college, but eventually dropped out. But her story has a happy ending. She was adopted at age 24 by a former social worker and is now attending Cal State Stanislaus.

Her sisters weren't so fortunate. O'Reilly said they have resorted to working as strippers and have been arrested, homeless, on drugs, on welfare and in abusive relationships.

"Some people say it's the choices they made, but when you have no choices, you do what you have to do in order to survive," she said. "Today, I want to beg the state to stop abandoning my foster brothers and sisters."

Another "collector family" gets big money, while abusing the foster children in their care

Couple with 11 foster kids arrested
Teenagers allege sexual, physical abuse in home
Parents receiving over $100 grand a year to care for children, officials say
Rosenberg, Katherine. Victorville Daily Press, Jan. 14, 2007.

VICTORVILLE — A report of sexual molestation led to the discovery of a large foster family with an equally large government-supplied bankroll, raising suspicions with local law enforcement.

Eleven adopted and foster children were removed from a Skipper Lane address in Brentwood this week after two teenage girls reported being molested by a 23-year-old man living in the house, sheriff’s officials said.

The parents, Barbara Taylor and her unnamed husband were also arrested, as they are suspected to have physically abused the children and had knowledge of the sexual abuse taking place in the home, said Detective James Wiebeld of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Victorville station.

While detectives shook their heads over the crime, they were further surprised to find that the family has been receiving a reported $130,000 from various state agencies to care for the children.

Documents obtained from the Sheriff’s Department also show that the family was receiving a monthly Section 8 housing subsidy to help pay their rent.

Detectives suggest that neither Barbara Taylor nor her husband were working at the time of their arrest, another violation of the Child Protective Services agreement in order to take in foster children.

Case agents from Child Protective Services would not comment on the funding, citing privacy laws. = COVER-UP

According to CPS’ Web site, “You must have some way to support your family. California State Regulations require that foster families must be able to meet all their family’s financial needs. ... Foster Care cannot be used as income for this purpose.”

Wiebeld said that CPS agents told him that the family was getting as much as $1,500 a child per month, in which case the family would be receiving closer to $200,000 a year.

Karen Hill of Department of Children’s Services said that there is a monthly rate of pay that follows the children, not the adoptive or foster parents. And while she said the most a child could receive at the age of 18 is $597 a month, the CPS Web site adds that there is an additional specialized care increment that can go as high as $169 a month, as determined by the child’s social worker. At maximum, that would top out around $100,000 a year for the Taylor family.

“The money the foster parents get is paid to them just for the care of the kids. That’s all it’s supposed to be used for allowance, schooling, school supplies, medical care,” Hill said. “If we or somebody else believes that a family is abusing that, they can call the hotline and report it, then that’s a licensing issue.”

Sheriff’s Department officials said that they are unable to disclose the amount Barbara Taylor has been receiving from Section 8, but added that “the local housing authority... is a victim too.”
While officials suggest that this type of fraud is not entirely uncommon, all agree that the real victims in this case have been the abused children.

Tim Cole, 23, was arrested on suspicion of continuing sexual molestation of a child under the age 14, Wiebeld said.

Officials believe he began molesting a now 15-year-old when she was 13, and also began molesting a second 13-year-old one year ago. The first victim also witnessed the second victim’s abuse, Wiebeld said.

“Thirteen is the ripe age for this guy. He was 21 when he started molesting the first victim. When the second victim turned 13, he started molesting her,” Wiebeld said. “According to both girls independently, they told the mother a while back and she didn’t do anything about it. Both were also victims of or witnessed physical abuse of the other kids — being hit by belts, et cetera.”

Wiebeld said the man, who denies living at the home full time, is a relative of the Taylors. Cole calls the pair mom and dad, Wiebeld said, but he is some other type of family member, not their son.

Cole also said that he told Mr. Taylor about the molestation.

“For that reason, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were also arrested for child endangerment — failure to provide a safe environment for children,” Wiebeld said.

All 11 children were taken into protective custody and subsequently placed into different foster homes within the local area, Wiebeld said.

San Francisco Chronicle receives annual Community Hero Award

Chronicle foster-care editorials lauded
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Report, Jan. 10, 2007.

The Chronicle's editorial board has been named the recipient of the annual Community Hero Award by the Oakland-based First Place Fund for Youth foundation for its series of editorials on California's troubled system for foster care.

The foundation, in announcing the award Tuesday, praised editorials by former staff writer Pati Poblete that "informed the public about the serious defects in the statewide foster-care system."

"The Chronicle's editorial board articles not only increased the public's awareness of the foster-care failures, they also allowed those organizations working with foster youth to have the opportunity to share the information with decisionmakers," the foundation said. "The breadth and clarity of the editorials left no doubt as to the need for change."

Editorial Page Editor John Diaz said the board was "humbled and grateful" for the award. "The real heroes are all the young people who are overcoming the odds of a dysfunctional foster-care system," he said.

The First Place Fund for Youth, founded in 1998, provides services, housing and counseling to young people as they leave foster care for independent living. The foundation distributes reprints of The Chronicle's editorials to its staff as a training tool.

First Place Fund for Youth plans to present the award to editorial board members during the group's annual benefit dinner April 27 in Oakland.

Over 4,000 foster youth emancipate from California's foster care system each year

Antonovich calls for enhanced services and financial support for emancipated foster youth.
Bossert, Dave. West Ranch Beacon, Jan. 10, 2007.

The Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich directing County departments to work with the State legislative delegation to sponsor legislation that provides enhanced services and financial support to emancipated foster youth between the ages of 18 and 21 years.

Each year, more than 4,000 youths emancipate from California’s foster care system – nearly 1,500 in Los Angeles County.

“Just as youth who leave their families as young adults depend upon the continued support of their birth parents to meet their individualized needs, so do youth emancipating from foster care,” said Supervisor Antonovich.

“This places them at greater risk of unemployment, homelessness, and incarceration, every effort should be made to ensure that each youth emancipating from our county’s foster care system is afforded the continued opportunities available to achieve success and become a fully contributing member of society,” added Supervisor Antonovich.

Kashi's foster care experience inspired him to create iCare

R&B veteran Kashif is down for foster children:
He's started iCare to improve the quality of life for foster kids
Jan. 5, 2007 http://www.eurweb.com/

LOS ANGELES, CA - Kashif won the hearts of millions of music lovers through his pioneering sound which dominated R&B charts in the 80s but what many do not know is that he has a passion for helping foster children.

His recordings have sold over 70 million worldwide and he has produced smash hits for the likes of Whitney Houston, Kenny G, George Benson, Barry White and Lil Kim, yet his greatest accomplishment - the one closest to his heart is yet to come.

As the Founder and National Spokesperson for iCare, a non-profit organization committed to changing the image of foster care and improving the quality of life for children in the foster care system, Kashif is using his celebrity status and Hollywood connections to raise money and bring awareness through creative endeavors including hosting two benefit concerts, producing and directing three national commercials, creating a clothing line exclusively for children in foster care and sponsoring a summer camp, Celebrity Sports & Entertainment Camp (C.S.E.C.) iCare's motto is "Every Child In A Loving Home."

Having never known his biological parents and persevering through abandonment, abuse and eight foster homes, Kashif knows firsthand the importance of providing children with a loving and stable living environment. He is committed to making substantial differences in the lives of the hundreds of thousands of children in the foster care system.

Statistics show that more than 800,000 children pass through the foster care system each year. Most of these children are the victims of repeated abuse and prolonged neglect and have not experienced a nurturing, stable environment during the early years of life.

According to the most current AFCARS Report (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Report), 38% of the children in foster care in September 30, 2001, were African American and 37% of the children were Caucasian. 17% of the children were Hispanic while 2% were bi-racial, and 1% were Asian. According to Casey Family Programs, African-American children are over four times more likely than Caucasian children to be placed in out-of-home care.

Every effort should be made to make foster care a positive experience and a healing process for the child.

Kashif applauds celebrities such as Madonna, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for traveling to foreign countries to adopt, however he states "That can send the wrong message to the local community. All we need to do is look in our own backyard. We don't need to travel to Africa and other foreign countries to adopt. By the year 2020, if we do nothing to reverse current trends, 9 million children in this country will be in the foster care system. I'd like to see positive changes in foster care including more resources available for foster parents and the process of becoming a foster parent made easier."

For years, Kashif has been a mentor for foster kids and has worked with agencies such as Casey Family Programs and the Department of Children & Foster Services (DCFA). Earlier this year he traveled to Sacramento as a part of a team that helped secure an additional $83 million dollars to the State budget. He is also working with local and national politicians to help change legislature and was featured in Jet magazine's May 22, 2006 issue and addressed the issue of foster care and how we can help.

UPCOMING iCare FUNDRAISING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:
iCare Concert Two musical concerts will be held: May, 2007 in New York and August, 2007 in Los Angeles. A portion of the proceeds will go to foster care agencies.

Celebrity Sports & Entertainment Camp (C.S.E.C.) - Begins summer, 2007, this five-day camp exclusively for foster care youth will travel to nine cities across America. National celebrities will instruct youth in the disciplines of music, dance, acting and basketball. Also includes life skill workshops. For a complete overview, visit http://www.celebritycamp.com/.

iCare Clothing Line - Includes casual and sports gear aimed at increasing the self-esteem of those in foster care.

iCare Commercials - Three national television commercials aimed at re-branding foster care. The media has focused on the negativity of foster care - there are many successful people who've come through the foster care system. The commercials will feature numerous celebrities who support the ICARE initiatives along with individuals who have "aged out" of foster care. These PSA's will be shown on television, the Internet, at sporting events and in churches nationwide.